January/February 2004
Vol. 36, no. 1
ISSN 1492-4676

Toward a New Kind of Knowledge Institution

To better serve the people of Canada, the National Library of Canada and the National Archives of Canada are undergoing a profound transformation. The Government of Canada announced its intention to establish a single agency in the Speech from the Throne on September 30, 2002, and, on October 2 of the same year, the Minister of Canadian Heritage confirmed the creation of the new institution. Library and Archives Canada (LAC) will be a unique model combining and building on the proud traditions of the two venerable institutions.

A Single Institution

Two separate institutions – the National Library and the National Archives – no longer make sense.

Our holdings are converging. The National Library and the National Archives both collect documents, images, sound recordings and various kinds of records. Both institutions are being transformed by the digital revolution – we are an example of convergence in the information age, and we must equip ourselves for leadership in this new world. The skills and capacities of our staffs are highly complementary and are important assets for the government and, more importantly, for Canadians.

A single new institution offers

• synergy of collections, skills and constituencies;
• easier access to integrated holdings, both for researchers and for millions of ordinary Canadians;
• enhanced service delivery to Canadians; and
• better use of scarce resources.

We have already integrated administrative and technology services in the two agencies. In future, users will be able to benefit by accessing a single point of service.

We are the stewards of Canada’s documentary heritage, a responsibility we have taken seriously for more than 100 years. However, much more can be accomplished as a single institution with a modern mandate, a higher profile and a renewed focus on the use of new technology for collection, preservation and dissemination of our extraordinary collections.

The collections of the Library and the Archives include

• more than 19 million books, periodicals, newspapers, microfilms, literary manuscripts and government publications;
• over 156 km of unique textual records, both governmental and non-governmental;
• more than 21 million photos, and 350,000 works of art;
• portraits capturing the faces of over a million Canadians since 1710;
• maps and drawings; and
• film, video and sound recordings (in all media from wax cylinders to CDs).

Legislation

The legislation to create Library and Archives Canada was tabled on May 8, 2003, in the House of Commons. It completed Third Reading, and was sent to the Senate on October 28, 2003, where it had First and Second Reading before prorogation of Parliament on November 12.

While preserving the essential elements of our current mandates, Bill C-36 gives LAC a modern statutory mandate to acquire, preserve, organize and make known the documentary heritage of Canada. This includes

• records – public and private, written and visual; and
• published material, including books, serials, electronic media, audio and video.

LAC will continue to be a unique repository of expertise in the collection, preservation and management of contemporary and historical information about Canada. It will also have a unique capacity and responsibility for national leadership in these areas. And we will remain the custodians of the records of the Government of Canada, and an advisor to government in the field of information management.

The new institution will combine the resources and expertise (and the nearly 1,100 employees) of the National Library and the National Archives. The new Library and Archives Canada will enjoy the same legal status as before – a departmental agency within the Canadian Heritage portfolio – but with a new position of Librarian and Archivist of Canada as head.

The Future

Our new legislation will provide us with a clear mandate to facilitate cooperation among library, archival and related communities for the preservation of and making known Canada’s documentary heritage. We will serve as a national institution that is a source of enduring knowledge accessible to all, contributing to the cultural, social and economic advancement of Canada as a free and democratic society.

We will capture the heritage of Canadians in a variety of media, both traditional and electronic. Content will be more easily known and shared, and in forms that are conducive to learning. The new institution will

• create and share in networks of learning, scholarship and cultural discovery across Canada;
• preserve essential records that support individual rights – citizenship, pension rights, land claims; and
• help Canadians see and understand themselves and their history.

The LAC transformation will focus on meeting the evolving needs of Canadians and the Government of Canada in a knowledge society. Such a transformation will not happen overnight – we will take one innovative step at a time, ensuring that we do it right.

We have embarked on a grand transformation journey together. Our destination – a single, modern, knowledge institution to better serve the evolving needs of all Canadians, and of the Government of Canada, in the 21st century.